A Valentine for my Singer's Salon

 The rumbling of chairs being moved about greeted people finding their way into Deagan Music for the Salon...donations were taken at the door, coats were hung, and nerves were allowed to freely fly, as Michelle Costello serenaded her friend Martha in the anti-anteroom. Musicians gathered, singers stared into space and I tried to say howdy to anybody who looked like they needed direction or a reason to live. Once Maggie had us ready to go, bottles of wine were opened, and folks were settled in, announcements were made and I guided anyone who wanted to through a short meditation for grounding. Just to get it going...The Red Apples played a couple of tunes and we were off!

The Singer's Salon is growing into a growling, pawing, purring, spawning musical beast. Every month fascinating folks with divergent musical tastes and sometimes surprising creations emerge and share their unique talents with us. YOW!
Where to begin? Omar Jano keeps surprising us. This time with not only a cool Depeche Mode cover but with a new original tune, "Moonlight". Ron and Dave of Red Apples fame, helped him flesh out his uplifting, rock ballad. Who knew he was such a romantic?
The lovely 16 year old Kieley joined us for the first time from the Meetup. After her Mother informed me that she would accompany herself on piano, I asked her what she was going to sing. She said she had put together her own compilation of Eminem songs. (!) You go girl I thought. And she did. Talk about making the material your own! And nice voice. Come back soon, Kieley.
Tracy Karbel, who apparently has quite the fan base,  performed a simply hilarious version of a lesser known Weill/Gershwin classic, "The Saga of Jenny".  I'm so glad she "made her mind up" to sing that 'cause she had us all in stitches with her wit and stage presence.

Michelle Costello, the aforementioned practicer, and a new-comer to the world of string instruments, braved the stage to accompany herself on ukelele. She crooned the tender tune "Tonight You Belong to Me" with a true old-fashioned sweetness that moved us all. MORE PLEASE.

Unbelievably next was Charles Smith who performed Verdi's "Di Provenza il mar" with original lyrics about the pitfalls of the current ecomony! Very clever lyrics indeed and with beautiful piano playing to boot.

Erick Deshaun Dorris, with his usual fervor and flair covered Tori Amos for a change and finally, (or so we thought) Elmer, also from the meetup group, on unplugged electric guitar, and sans microphone, performed an original, "Beat Box Heart" and followed up with a cover of a Johnny Cash cover  "Hurt". Nice. We dug it.
The group broke up as various audience members had to go on their way; other performers and audience were chatting and comparing notes when Barmey showed up with his guitar. Not wanting to turn him away, we listened to him serenade us in the little alcove in the back of the space. His stunning guitar technique was arresting on the Portishead cover as well as an original tune from his band. I hope to hear more from him as well. We all had an amazingly musically awesome time. Stay tuned for next month's Salon and more...